Douggg Posted December 1, 2013 Share Posted December 1, 2013 I've been a LOR user for many years, but was always too busy to take a look at CCR. I've been thinking about adding something new to my display and CCR has caught my interest. I'd like to ask a few questions to CCR users if you wouldn't mind.Is CCR DMX? Or something different?I notice a lot of displays are use 12 CCR, why 12? (And not more or less?)For folks who have 12 CCRs do you have 12 CCR controllers?Is the investment for 12 x $245?Is the way CCRs work is each LED is given it's own address? So you can control one LED at a time?How difficult is that to program? Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mixnight Posted December 1, 2013 Share Posted December 1, 2013 Yes they are DMX.The investment can be 12x$245 or have ONE multi-controller ( one controller from LOR can connect up to 8 ccr or one controller from San devices E682 that can connect up to 16 ccr) in my case I do have onex$200 E682 and 12x$30 ccr from Ray Wu in alibaba.com, but the investment won't stop here, if you are new to ccr like me you need to buy some sequences already done by others and upgrade you superstar from demo to full version depending on how many ccr you have, then buy supplies to build your tree, and whatever take to make it work.The other questions some of the experts can answer it, and yes it is a little difficult the first time and maybe the second time, lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve synek Posted December 1, 2013 Share Posted December 1, 2013 I've been a LOR user for many years, but was always too busy to take a look at CCR. I've been thinking about adding something new to my display and CCR has caught my interest. I'd like to ask a few questions to CCR users if you wouldn't mind.Is CCR DMX? Or something different? You can run in DMX, but you can also use them as plug and play in standard LOR mode. I notice a lot of displays are use 12 CCR, why 12? (And not more or less?) You can use them in any number....For folks who have 12 CCRs do you have 12 CCR controllers? The CCR includes the controller when purchased.Is the investment for 12 x $245? -at the summer sale they can be had for less- {$200 +)Is the way CCRs work is each LED is given it's own address? -In standard LOR mode, each group of 3 pixels is given it's own RGB channel. So you can control one LED at a time? one group of 3 at a time- 50 total groups.How difficult is that to program? Easy once you learn the basics. Thanks Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Douggg Posted December 2, 2013 Author Share Posted December 2, 2013 Thanks Steve and mix night. This was very helpful. Doug Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sax Posted December 2, 2013 Share Posted December 2, 2013 Hey Dougg. I use my CCR as part of my LOR network. I run a seperate DMX network for non-LOR components. With DMX you have a limit to devices in a universe. So you have to take that into consideration when planning your RGB yard. One of the reasons I chose the CCR from LOR is that it allows me to plug it into the LOR network and adds the use of MACROS. The ribbon shows up as 50 RGB channels in your sequence editor with a few channels for the macros. If you set it up for 10 pixels then you would program the first 10 lines. And so forth for each group. I can program the ribbon as 50 pixels, 25, 17, 16, 10, 5 and 1. As I was just learning I used the 1 function alot. So basically I color the first line of the 50 pixels and the color goes to the entire ribbon. Then to add spice I would twinkle the ribbon and 50 pixels changing colors randomly does just that. As I have become more comfortable I would control more. Still, on most songs having the Ribbon one solid cover is very useful. There are other MACROS on the LOR CCR ribbon that you cannot get with the china ribbons. So for me, that was one of the selling points to go LOR. The MACROS were desired to ease programming and give instant portions of the sequence complete. (Fills and beat chases being my favorites) The manual is available showing the many functions of the ribbon on the LOR website under documentation. It is well written and easy to follow. I actually created my CCR and programmed it as if it was already in my display to determine if it would work for me. I encourage you to try it this way. It is all free and you can quickly determine if you like it. I only have 3 CCRs. One for each eave of my roof. I have them mounted permanently using glazing tape. I dont know exactly how the 12 CCR tree started but one of the reasons there are so many ribbons is so that text can be created as well as images. The more ribbons you have the better the resolution. For my use, as my eave lights, one is working good. I have to admit I have looked at adding more to add some cool effects like melting snow, rain, falling water or snow and of course images and text. i just dont think 6 or more ribbons on each side would look too good. My eaves are in my picture...so you can see what I am talking about. Yes, it is a large investment. Even from the summer sale. But the LOR CCR is the controller, the ribbon and the power supply. It is just daisy chained with the rest of your LOR controllers. Assign it a unique ID and off you go. But, It does not have the case. So if you are going to be like most of us and put your controller outside next to your ribbon you will need a case to protect the controller and power supply from the elements. Cableguard CG 500s work for this. But this is not sold by LOR. So you would have to look into some sort of case to protect the controller and power supply be it the CG 500 or not. Programming becomes more and more easy as you use it. I invested in superstar to help with the programming even more. No, superstar is not needed but it has helped me. But again, I encourage you to add a CCR in your visualizer and Sequence editor to see how it looks for you. Then you can practice programming and easily determine if you want one or not. Good-Luck,Sax Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul R Posted December 2, 2013 Share Posted December 2, 2013 I wanted to add some more info, as I have been researching pixels quite a bit myself as i am wantign to go that route next year. From LoR, you have several options for RGB. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul R Posted December 2, 2013 Share Posted December 2, 2013 Man, I hit post too early...I miss the edit button. As I was saying, the options from LoR. Dumb RGB - these come in ribbons with 150 bulbs. Each bulb can be any color, but all bulbs change together. In other words, they all are the same color at the same time. LoR sells a controller for the Dumb RGB that will handle 8 ribbons (the CMB24D). Because they all are the same color, each ribbon uses 3 channels (one each for red, blue, or green). By varying the intensity of each channel you mix the RGBs to produce many colors. Smart RGB - comes in Ribbons (CCR), large bulbs (CCB) and Pixels - small bulbs sized like M6's (CCP). The smart RGB mean that each bulb (or pixel) is controlled independently so that you can have each bulb be a different color simultaneously. Therefore each strand of Smart RGB has (3 x #bulbs) channels. A 50 bulb string would use 150 channels. The Cosmic Color Ribbon (CCR) has 150 LEDs and it's own 450 channel controller and power supply and is therefore plug and play with LoR networks. LoR does not sell (that I am aware of) a separate RGB controller for smart pixels. That is where a controller like the Sandevices E682 comes in. Previous posts have spoken to the tradeoffs whether you go with LoR RGB or others. LoR is more expensive, but comes with it's own controller and power supply, is plug and play with LoR networks, and doesn't need to deal with other protocols or adapters (like DMX). Standard DMX smart Pixels have more flexibility, expandability, and lower cost. But they do require more setup and more skill to use. Personally, I am planning on getting a Sandevices controller, some Ray Wu 2811 pixel strings, and power supplies and giving it a try. I like figuring out this type of stuff and would prefer go for flexibility and expandability down the road. -Paul Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyinverted Posted December 2, 2013 Share Posted December 2, 2013 Paul The CCR has 150 LEDS. Each set of 3 LEDS = 1 PIXEL. That's 50 RGB Pixels per ribbon for 150 RGB channels. Each color gets its own channel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul R Posted December 3, 2013 Share Posted December 3, 2013 Paul The CCR has 150 LEDS. Each set of 3 LEDS = 1 PIXEL. That's 50 RGB Pixels per ribbon for 150 RGB channels. Each color gets its own channel. Thank you for the correction...like I said, I am still learning. -Paul Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlackwolfK9 Posted December 14, 2013 Share Posted December 14, 2013 Just seems at $240 per CCR, thats a steep investment. Is there a less expensive, capable, alternative? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve synek Posted December 14, 2013 Share Posted December 14, 2013 Just seems at $240 per CCR, thats a steep investment. Is there a less expensive, capable, alternative?Just saying.............did you read post #7 Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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